Zooey Deschanel for Allure Magazine

Posted on Jan 19, 2012 in Fashion

We admit, in a naked attempt to generate comments, that we just don’t get Zooey’s appeal. We’ve tried to, but every time we assess her talents and charms, we find the praise to be overstated. Sure, she’s quirky and cute and she’s got her own personal style, but the way some people talk about her you’d think she was some sort of incredibly gifted comedian and actress and we’ve never really seen it. We keep trying to watch her much-lauded show and can’t sit through more than ten minutes of it. She’s just not for us, it seems.

Having said all that…

Zooey Deschanel featured in the February 2012 issue of Allure magazine photographed by Norman Jean Roy.

She’s pretty adorable in these pictures for Allure.

Silk top and wool shorts by Jason Wu

“I don’t know why femininity should be associated with weakness. Women should be free to express who they are without thinking, I need to act like a man, or I need to tone it down to be successful. That’s a very good way to keep women down.”

Dolce & Gabbana bodysuit

“Because I have brown hair and a low voice, I would get cast as dry, sarcastic, ironic people, which I can do, but it’s not my sense of humor. I’m a very positive person. I get excited easily, and I like to jump around.”

We think the temptation to put her in ’60s-inspired retro must be too great to resist. But even though this is well-trod ground, she looks fresh and adorable. She’s exactly the gal to make these looks still work.

[Photo Credit: Norman Jean Roy for allure.com]

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http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1046681022 Paula Berman

I don’t particularly care for her, but wow, she has beautiful blue eyes and a good deal of quirky presence. I just cannot get over “The Touch, The Feel, of Cotton… The Fabric of our Lives!” Grrrr.
- http://twitter.com/bredalot Bridget Smith
  
  You know, it’s really too bad about those awful commercials, because she’s actually a much better singer than actress. Her band with M. Ward, She & Him, does the retro, lower-pitched songs that she does really well, and they’re pretty good. Great low-key music for quiet days. But most people have only heard that awful strained song for the cotton commercials, which is, no lie, TERRIBLE, so they think She & Him is just a vanity band.
  - Anonymous
    
    I hate, loathe, despise, and abhor her thin, whiny singing voice in all incarnations. I imagine it’s what Satan pumps into Hell 24/7.
    
    And I am so sick of hearing about how “quirky” and “dorky” she is. Why, why, why is everyone always saying this? She’s just another conventionally attractive actress! So yeah, the fashion photos are cute. But she is absolutely nothing special.
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_UCLO5V2YD36T7QMPKOC7YXPOFU Erica
      
      It’s also that she sings the tiniest bit flat on every single note that exits her mouth. My husband played that She & Him a couple of times until I implored him to stop. It’s like nails on a chalkboard for me. You’d think she’d hit the note by sheer accident every once in a while. She is cute, though, and she’s super cute in these photos. She was good in The Hitchhiker’s Guide, which we watched for the 1st time a couple of months back. I think she should stick to acting, myself.
      - http://impishdiy.com Impish DIY
        
        Yes! I can’t stand to listen to her sing because she’s always so FLAT! It drives me nuts. But she is really very pretty and cute and she has a great sense of style. Other than that, she’s overrated.
      - Anonymous
        
        Her rendition of Baby It’s Cold Outside makes me want to stick a knitting needle in my ears. And I am SO OVER her “aren’t I so cute and precious and awkward?!!!?!” schtick. That’s apparently all she can do.
    - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1046681022 Paula Berman
      
      Her characters are ALWAYS quirky, weird, or idiosyncratic, as is her voice. That’s just her niche.
      - jeneria
        
        But she presents a negative image of women that is just as damaging as the blond bimbo. Her doe-eyed goofy affectations are insulting because she also presents the idea that attractive women can’t possibly be smart, albeit in a hipster geek chic manner.
        
        I do like her music, though.
      - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720742723 Sarah Winningham
        
        In what way does she present the idea that attractive hipster geek women can’t also be smart? Her current character on New Girl is a dedicated and thoughtful teacher, who, while bumbling and awkward, successful manipulates and/or gives insightful advice to her roommates each episode. Nor can I think of any other roles where she played someone stupid or explicitly unintellectual (except for stupidly cheating on her awesome girlfriend in Our Idiot Brother). Are you suggesting that doe-eyed goofy women can’t possibly be smart?
      - jeneria
        
        I think it’s the preciousness, the tweeness of her that irritates me.
        I’m not sure how else to explain it, but when I see her in movies and on tv, I think she’s playing another dumb female stereotype that is only different from the dumb blond stereotype because she has dark hair and is quirky as opposed to outright sexy. And I want to like her, dammit, but I just can’t.
      - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720742723 Sarah Winningham
        
        So you, personally, are annoyed by preciousness or tweeness, which is certainly your right – but implying that she’s stupid or promoting stupidity because you don’t enjoy her personal style is what I find insulting to women..
      - Denny Li
        
        Personally, I am unable to come up with a single example where intelligence is either precious or twee. If you can, more power to you.
      - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720742723 Sarah Winningham
        
        Anita Loos, Anais Nin, Mayim Byalik…
      - Denny Li
        
        So you find the flapper look of Anita Loos and Anais Nin precious and twee rather than a product of their time? Because I certainly wouldn’t characterize their writing that way. As for Mayim Byalik, nothing about her has ever struck me as remotely precious or twee, even in her “Blossom” days.
      - Anonymous
        
        I agree with your overall points but c’mon, Blossom not twee? She wore flower hats and did little dances. She is the DEFINITION of twee for the 90′s.
      - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720742723 Sarah Winningham
        
        Anita Loos and Anais Nin were both deliberately more precious and big-eyed/girlish than their peers. I can recall specific passages in Anita Loos’ autobiography where she talked about setting her personal style to deliberately emulate the rich young girls in their little tennis dresses at the Hotel Del and the deliciousness of this one guy who cut up her meat for her at a dinner party without asking because she was a girl.
      - http://twitter.com/melbaJD Mel D
        
        How is being manipulative an indicator of intelligence? That’s actually one of the most common ‘evil female’ stereotypes in existence: That they don’t have knowledge to base an argument around, so they have to resort to emotional displays and manipulation.
      - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PVIY3NBCZJAJNFWDBCWG2DMKL4 Jen R
        
        There’s no such thing as an ‘idiosyncratic’ voice. You either can carry a tune or you can’t. Period. Apparently she falls slightly into the can’t category but either no one notices or no one wants to burst her bubble.
  - http://profiles.google.com/sara.e.munoz Sara Munoz
    
    I have to (respectfully) disagree. I think She & Him are overrated.
    
    Now ScarJo & Pete Yorn- THAT’S a vanity project!
    - Anonymous
      
      She & Him is the gateway drug to good “indie” music. It is not nearly as awesome as some people think it is.
      
      I am a pretentious hipster type. But I was hipster before being hipster was cool….
- http://profiles.google.com/sara.e.munoz Sara Munoz
  
  Paula, then make sure you don’t search youtube for her rendition of the national anthem.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1046681022 Paula Berman
    
    Oh, say it isn’t so! I just do not like her singing voice. I listened to a couple of She & Him songs and though, really? This is supposed to be awesome? I don’t like her speaking voice or her singing voice. Bleah.
- Anonymous
  
  That cotton commercial is a whole new level of cloyngly awful. The later one with Kate Bosworth is even worse.
  - Anonymous
    
    The one with Leona Lewis is the one that really makes me ragey.
Anonymous

I LOVE the shoes she is wearing in both pics….. I want them!!!!
- Anonymous
  
  Me too!
- Anonymous
  
  Me three!
- Anonymous
  
  I’m worried, though, that she’s about to poop on the ones she’s wearing in Shot #3.
  - Anonymous
    
    Judging by the expression on her face in that shot, Zooey is worried that might happen too.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=685365712 Melissa Ahner
  
  I NEED to know where to get those teal shoes.
http://twitter.com/NC_Meg Megan

I totally agree. She’s cute but I don’t get it. I couldn’t sit through 2 minutes of New Girl so kudos to you guys for sitting through 10!
- Anonymous
  
  I do like the show, but I think only because of the guys-or the interaction between her and the guys. I think if it was just her doing quirky stuff, I would get tired of it very quickly.
  - http://twitter.com/NC_Meg Megan
    
    See, the part I watched was just her doing quirky things (it was the first few minutes of the pilot.) I can’t bring myself to give it another shot.
    - Anonymous
      
      I actually didn’t watch it when it first came on. Then I started hearing how great it was, so I watched it online. I didn’t care so much for the beginning, and I made myself sit there, but after she moved in with the guys, it got so much better.
      - Anonymous
        
        I made it through two episodes, but found it sort of cloying. I figure Zooey is kind of the zeitgeist girl–the Jennifer Aniston of her generation. She’s not so beautiful that she’s intimidating, so she’s pretty, but approachable. Perfect pretend girlfriend material for a bunch of guys. Not a total bimbo, but still girly.
        
        I’m not part of her target audience, so I don’t have strong feelings about her–though I think she’s overexposed. I like her in some things, in others she’s kind of wearing–but no one cares if she appeals to me. They care if I like the Real Housewives, George Clooney and whatever women’s lit is supposed to be hot in bookclubs.
- Anonymous
  
  It’s actually one of those shows that’s gotten a lot better as it’s progressed, and the chemistry between her and the 3 guys is quite cute. She’s toned down the dorky weirdo quite a bit. I think she’s pretty charming, usually, and think she looks fab here.
- http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia
  
  I made it through less than 5 minutes of the first episode. Then I tried again because someone I love told me how great it was. I made in 10 minutes the second time around. I think she is beautiful, I think these pictures are stunning, but I really think I must be too old for New Girl.
  - Call me Bee
    
    That’s funny, cuz I am old enough to be mother to all five of those people in that show, adn I think it’s a hoot. I like the chemistry between all the characters, and the script is warm and believeable. But that’s just me.
  - http://twitter.com/NC_Meg Megan
    
    I don’t know if it’s that you’re too old. I’m 23 and you see how I feel about it.
Anonymous

Cute. Pretty hot, actually.
http://twitter.com/ohmybears48 Michelle Argento

Channeling Barbra in that last pic. I LOVE IT.
http://twitter.com/LOfficielEbony TheVeryLivingEND

Super cute! Love her!
Anonymous

Inflatable doll! That’s all I can see on the cover. Sorry. Can’t unsee it.
Sarah Masson

The cover shot reminds me of Lucille Ball which I think is kind of appropriate. I like Zooey best when she plays upbeat quirky roles (like in her TV show) rather than when she plays the too cool for school chick (see “500 Days of Summer”).
Anonymous

I think she looks great. I do like her though and I do like New Girl.
Anonymous

I don’t really know what she does. But she is cute, especially that last picture. Katy Perry ought to let her hair go black again. It looks better.
Anonymous

I loved her in Elf! I haven’t even tried to watch her new show, but then again, I just started watching How I met your Mother on Netflix oh, how many seasons later. I’m behind the times.

I do love this spread and that cover shot is awesome!
- Anonymous
  
  She was great in Elf. She had a dry but earnest vibe going on that worked well. Not too over-the-top. Or if it was, you couldn’t tell because Will Ferrell is over-over-over-the-top.
Anonymous

Much like Rihanna, I find her to be a charisma vacuum. Maybe she has a charm that only comes off in person, rather than in photos and on film. She’s a cute/pretty girl, and I’m sure she is lovely to know, but I don’t find her at all interesting or compelling to watch. Too much artifice masquerading as quirk.
Anonymous

I like her well enough, but I can see how she could grate. i don’t care for the cover shot (waaaay too cutesy), but she looks incrediblein the other pics.
Presumptuous Insect

Kate Hudson and now this creature! Somebody hand me a barf bag.
MilaXX

I don’t mind her so much, but I’m not a fan girl either. Her show is just too Zooey for me. Like this spread, I would kill for those teal shoes.
- Anonymous
  
  My ‘like’ is shared enthusiasm for the shoes. They draw my eye much more powerfully than does her face.
Anonymous

Isn’t she on that show with the 3 cute guys and a great loft? The guys (be still my heart) carry the show. Zooey looks good in the magazine. But no matter what she wear, Zooey always looks like your friend’s little sister.
- Anonymous
  
  See now, I, too feel that the guys carry the show. Totally. Anyway, I’m pretty oblivious to ZD’s character on the show. Oh, and she does look great in these shots. And, I, too, really, really, really want those teal shoes.
http://www.facebook.com/ca.vanzant C. A. Van Zant

Love her..loved for for years. Can’t explain it actually, it is something visceral that strikes a chord within me. Her scene with Rob Corddry in “Failure to Launch” is so great.
- http://twitter.com/starrika Ali
  
  Yes! That scene made me a Zooey fan as well. Not really a fan of that movie overall, but she was so cute in it.
http://twitter.com/LianaBrooks Liana Brooks

The appeal is that she is quirky. She’s your best friend from grade school all over again instead of another dyed, bleached, plastic-ed diva.
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah, but she’s exactly the same kind of “quirky” in every role. Snore. Besides, “I like pretty dresses but I’m not an airhead” isn’t exactly a revolutionary statement. Nor is having dark hair.
- Anonymous
  
  My problem with her is that said quirkiness seems so contrived. This is coming from another brunette who has a similar aesthetic to Zooey. Women like her (and me in many, many ways) are cliches at this point.
- Anonymous
  
  As the other commenters say, it’s her ‘anthropologie’ persona that has me tired. It was cute, but then the hipsters took over and she became a cartoon of herself.
  
  As for the shoot, all I see in the last picture vis that she was trying to poop and couldn’t.
Anonymous

I think she’s just ok as an actress but yeah, she’s cute as hell and seems to have loads of personality. Love the pics.
Anna Maria Diamanti

“we just don’t get Zooey’s appeal”

Manic-Pixie Dream Girl.
Terence Ng

I think she sings sweetly, if not powerfully, but beyond that, the limited things I’ve seen with her in them haven’t floored me, not that I dislike her. She’s like a good ottoman. I don’t need her, she’s not something I’m spotlighting in the furnished room that is my celebrity fandom, but I’m happy enough that she’s there than not.
Anonymous

How old is she? (Yeah, I could look it up, but I’m lazy and don’t really care that much). Anyway, I’m assuming she’s over 12 and therefore too old for the saccharin sweet, slightly loopy girl in bohemian clothes. Blossom was a mere child, and it works only then. Not in love with these pix, either. She’s pretty, no doubt, just needs to dress/act her age (whatever that is).
- Tamara Hogan
  
  32.
  Yeah, at least she’s not dressed like toddler in this spread.
http://profiles.google.com/sara.e.munoz Sara Munoz

I can give or take her. But the spread is perfect.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Claudia-Gilbert/875055316 Claudia Gilbert

I really like New Girl *shameface*. The guy who plays Schmidt clearly gets the best lines, but they do form an excellent ensemble cast; each supporting the next. All imo, of course. And I do fall into the category of thinking she’s the cat’s pyjamas. Something about her personality I really identify with; nerdy and unassuming? And I really don’t think its put-on, but I can also see she’s not for everyone.
Gorgeous pics. Well jel.
- Anonymous
  
  true – the character Schmidt gets the best lines.
  - Anonymous
    
    But he is kinda hot *shameface* and pulls it off well enough.
Anonymous

I liked her in Elf. and I find her voice weird, though I do like She & Him. She looks really beautiful in the second pic, but what I really like are the little quotes (maybe b/c I’m a sarcastic dark-haired girl with glasses who is a closet bubbly idealist?).
Anonymous

That cover makes me want to vomit, and I don’t even hate her. Will be interesting to see how those sales numbers come out.
Anonymous

I find her quite likeable and her show is okay, but it lost something when Damon Wayans Jr decided to stay with Happy Endings (a superior show IMHO)
Anonymous

“Fresh”? Try “contrived”. And when she uses her persona to preach feminism, I just want to strangle her more.
http://twitter.com/HanorahSV Hanorah Vanni

Okay, firstly: GET A SHE AND HIM RECORD PLEASE

I love Zoe, and I think the reason others do is her unique ability to be extremely well publicized and yet appeal heavily to the indie crowd. I’m similarly a girl with straight cut bangs, a love for feminine vintage style, and indie rock, so I relate very well to her demeanor. Zoe represents all of these things without an ounce of self doubt in an industry obsessed with mainstream appeal. It’s her confidence in being who she is and her breadth of talent, from her music to her acting, that makes her so entertaining.
- Anonymous
  
  Here’s the thing: she’s not indie. Maybe she was, but she hasn’t been for several years. She’s on a network TV show. She is featured in a commercial for a major manufacturing industry. She has made studio movies. She has a pop recording contract. She’s on the cover of a mainstream fashion magazine. She’s young and thin and conventionally beautiful. IMO, she lost whatever indie or counterculture cred she had. And that’s okay, that’s a valid career move for her, but cop to it. Don’t sell yourself (or allow yourself to be sold) as something you’re not. She’s now “faux indie,” if you will.
http://twitter.com/#!/Space_Kitty Space Kitty

What I wouldn’t give for her to dial TEH CUTE down from 11.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Karen-Stephens-Bassett/1503492602 Karen Stephens Bassett

Wool shorts. WOOL SHORTS!?
Sara Leigh Merrey

I don’t think she’s as talented as all the talk would suggest. She’s cute and reminds me of my daughter, but of course my daughter’s much more fabulous and talented. I haven’t tried to watch her show yet. I tried to watch Two Broke Girls (or whatever it’s called) and just couldn’t do it.
- Anonymous
  
  Two Broke Girls is another, different, terrible show. Zooey’s show is New Girl.
  - Anonymous
    
    REALLY terrible.
    - Anonymous
      
      Agreed. Unfortunately. Because I think that Kat Dennings is very talented, and much more what I think of as an indie actress. Attractive, but not cutesy. She needs a better vehicle.
    - Anonymous
      
      I SO want to go there and tell them how to read their lines (and my only acting experience is a high school production of Hamlet).
Anonymous

The cover and the D&G shots are cute, but I frankly get tired of her take on cute. There’s something very “I’m not a woman, I’m a girl!” about her that rubs me the wrong way. I like the shot of her in the Jason Wu, though
- Anonymous
  
  I’m not a woman, I’m a girl – BINGO. Which is why I’m eh about her.
  - Carla Williams
    
    Yeah–she’s too old for this persona. Though it would be annoying from a 20-something, it’s pathetic from a 30-something.
Anonymous

VOM
Anonymous

I feel like I should hate her BUT I CAN’T. she’s too friggen cute.
Shoelover1512

I would like to own the shoes she’s wearing in the 2nd pic please
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1344922354 Eric Scheirer Stott

She’s not an actress, she’s a Type.
Anonymous

I like her and I don’t get the hate.
Anonymous

Wow, in that last picture she’s a complete ringer for her sister Emily, IMHO the more talented and grossly underappreciated Deschanel.
Anonymous

I find her completely annoying, and this cover won’t change that! Yuck. Her Prada dress at the Globes was pretty though.
Anonymous

I don’t have any opinion of her as a person or an actress, but I love that cover shot.
Anonymous

I really like the first picture on the inside. Pussy bow is working.

I also love that they emphasized the retro-ness of the cover by allowing the image quality to be a little inferior, more like what it might have looked like in the 60s or 70s.
Rand Ortega

She’s a mainstream Parker Posey. Just enough quirky for Hollywood Execs to think the hipsters like her, bland enough for them to believe the flyover states will think she’s quirky.
- Anonymous
  
  Yes, THIS. You’ve nailed it.
Anonymous

I don’t particularly care about Zoey one way or the other, but IMHO, she doesn’t have anything that millions of other cute, quirky girls don’t have. She isn’t a particularly talented actress, and whoever told her she can sing needs to cut the dose. I will say, though, that she does take good photographs and she looks darned cute in this editorial. Again, nothing special, but cute.
Eclectic Mayhem

I don’t watch The New Girl mainly because I’ve instituted a blanket ban on all Fox TV output. It meant giving up Glee and Bones but I haven’t really missed either. I quite like Ms Deschanel though and have no problem with quirkiness in general. Great photo spread, thanks for sharing TLo!
- Anonymous
  
  I am hopelessly addicted to Bones. It has gotten me through hours of gym cardio and mindless paper work at home.
Anonymous

She looks good in the retro up-do, and I like the last photo.

Hate the cotton commercial everyone hates, liked the few bits of the new show I’ve seen.

Persons to whom I am related like She & Him, but I am not as impressed.
Anonymous

She is just way too deliberately quirky and “different” for me to like. Ugh.
Mariah J

I can’t even sit through the commercials for that show. Ugh. Cute photos but I too fail to see anything special in her.
http://twitter.com/thelilerin erin l.

So adorable. Not even going to get into how I feel about her, but that D&G bodysuit looks perfect on her.

On another note, has anyone seen a picture of her from before she dyed her hair? C-R-A-Z-Y
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/11/article-2084814-0F67962600000578-58_306x800.jpg
- Anonymous
  
  OMG
- Anonymous
  
  Holy cow, I wouldn’t even recognize her. She definitely has the right coloring and look for that beautiful dark hair.
Emily Scott

I completely agree with the confusion over her appeal. I did like her okay in 500 Days of Summer, and I actually found her likeable in Elf, which is funny because those characters play so strongly against how she describes herself. Apparently jaded, sarcastic Zooey is a lot more enjoyable than adorable Zooey.

That being said, these photos are terrific. The clothes are great, and kudos to her for doing something other than the pretty smile that most actresses seem to default to in these shoots.

I will say that I LOVE the show New Girl, I think because her character is so painfully awkward that it tempers her adorable-ness. That and the writing is incredibly sharp and the cast is one of the funniest on TV in a while.

And this is totally petty, but I love the name Zoe, and I hate, hate, hate the way she spells it.
- http://twitter.com/yankeefoxtrot Alex McGeagh
  
  “She” doesn’t spell it that way. Her parents did…
Anonymous

I LOVE her! these pics are great and really show her off well. the show is fun but still missing something. i think the three boys drag it into too typical sit-com schtick. The writing has some great moments but then they get sidetracked. That said, I really dig her look and I also like her voice, both speaking and singing.
http://twitter.com/jaythenerdkid Aaminah Khan

I find her incredibly annoying and overrated, but I guess she does take a good picture.

Watching New Girl, a few of my friends have made the comment that it’s like watching someone do an impression of a young Tina Fey in 30 Rock. I don’t know how true that is, but she does seem to be trying to cultivate that same nerdy-cute persona. She’s just not nearly as good at it as Tina Fey was, IMO.
Anonymous

cute photos. but totally agree w TLo. She’s not some kind of risk taking, edgy-weirdo artist.
Anonymous

i dont get her either but i do think she is adorable
http://twitter.com/TheRealSandraOh Sandra Oh

500 Days of Summer was where I fell in love with her. She’s adorkable.
Anonymous

Yeah, she’s cute. But who wears this stuff? Seriously? Who wears it????!! This is my question about a lot of stuff in mags. I know, I know – it “influences” popular style. But, really?
http://twitter.com/Fibercrazed Sara

I’m with you. I do NOT get the appeal of her show. It’s just not funny. And I really love her. I think she’s adorable and really wanted to like it. She looks amazing here.
Anonymous

Like they said, cute and weird. I like her and I can’t even explain why.
Judy_J

I loved Zooey in “Tin Man”, a mini-series made for the SyFy network a few years ago. She played DG, the granddaughter of Dorothy Gale. I’ve liked her ever since. I really like her in these photos. She kind of has that Paula Prentiss look.
Anonymous

The “New Girl” show…so not funny. I don’t get it. What is with the last photo of her squatting in a what appears to be an outfit she stole from a showgirl, minus the head piece. That is a really unattractive pose.
http://profiles.google.com/adj.blair Adriana Blair

Okay, I agree with you about the overpraise of her acting/comedy, but her VOICE. She & Him is one of my favorite bands.
Anonymous

I don’t like the heavily photoshopped cover at all but I do like the other photos.
lilibetp

I don’t get her either. And that show of hers is painful to watch.
http://twitter.com/anacedillo Ana Cedillo

wow she looks sooo thin! i didnt know she was that tiny. she looks beautiful though, its weird for a long time ive never enjoyed her quirkiness but i actually really like her show it is good!
R. L.

I hate her show. She’s cute and all but I agree with TLo.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman

The last picture looks like nothing but a constipated woman. I mean, really.
http://twitter.com/yankeefoxtrot Alex McGeagh

I love the show (New Girl) and have been faithfully watching it every week. I love the guys, and her interaction with them. I feel some of her appeal is that women can often identify with her character (a little awkward, not being blond and boobtastic, the occasional social misstep). The four of them have fun chemistry and the punchlines always make me laugh. I suspect they’re not as funny to people that aren’t in the demographic they’re aiming for, I suppose. But I personally was thrilled when they renewed it

I also love her band (and was familiar with the band long before I was familiar with her as an actress actually). I don’t think she’s the type of singer that is supposed to have an amazing technically correct voice (a la Aretha, Whitney, Idina, etc), but more of a quirky, twangy type of a singer, more like Feist, Kate Nash, Camera Obscura, or Rilo Kiley. I particularly love her cover of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles’ “You Really Got a Hold on Me”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAvnOWc5uD0

I don’t get the hating on her, but that’s just me
Anonymous

I loved her from that one movie and then the other one… but I fear my patience is being tested with this show… if I don’t like it, hells bells, something is veddy veddy wrong!!
Anonymous

Hate her. She just oozes “trying too hard.”
Anonymous

I don’t think much of her show. She’s a cute girl, but I like Emily better.
Anonymous

She’s adorable and has talent in a limited range. But when I saw this on your home page, even before opening the post, my first thought was “Groan!!! I am sooo over her and the whole Manic Pixie Dream Girl thing.” I blame nerds, who are the ones making chicks like this into icons.
Anonymous

I like her sarcastic and I like her shoes in the last photo.
Anonymous

Looking at these pics, I’ll be surprised if her next project isn’t a remake of That Girl. That cover looks straight out of the Sixties.
Anonymous

See, this is the thing: what ISN’T mainstream about her? She’s on a network TV show. She has done studio movies (not just independents). She has a lucrative pop contract. She’s beautiful and thin and young. She’s on the cover of a mainstream fashion magazine. I don’t see any sort of indie or counterculture cred with her. Maaaayyyyybe in the past, but not now.
- Anonymous
  
  TLo: The comment above was supposed to be a reply to someone else’s post, but it looks like it also ended up orphaned here. The comment/post and this reply can be deleted. Sorry about that!
Anonymous

If that woman doesn’t cut her bangs, I’m going to do it with my gardening shears.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720742723 Sarah Winningham

In what way does she present the idea that attractive hipster geek women can’t also be smart? Her current character on New Girl is a dedicated and thoughtful teacher, who, while bumbling and awkward, successful manipulates and/or gives insightful advice to her roommates each episode. Nor can I think of any other roles where she played someone stupid or explicitly unintellectual (except for stupidly cheating on her awesome girlfriend in Our Idiot Brother). Are you suggesting that doe-eyed goofy women can’t possibly be smart?
oohsparkley!

Awww! I like her and thinks she’s cute as a button and totally sincere. It would be fun to see her get her bitch on. Maybe have a raging PMS episode. No one can be sunny 24/7/365.
Anonymous

I love New Girl and I like that they’ve made her a bit less stupid on the show. I don’t think she’s s super phenomenal actress or anything but she’s fun to watch. And she looks great here.
Call me Bee

Well I like Zooey. and I like her show and I am not ashamed to say it! (grin) The photos are ok–but I WANT those green shoes in the last one.
http://profiles.google.com/phyllis.craine Phyllis Craine

I can’t be the only one who thinks she looks like Jo Anne Worley
Anonymous

You’re not alone, fellas.
Anonymous

I hadn’t seen her in anything before ‘New Girl’, and tried to watch the show. By the second episode, I’d had enough of the ‘adorkable’ Zooey. Ewww. I’m sure she’s a wonderful person, but I found her character on the show highly irritating. It didn’t help that her singing in her cotton commercial was so flat that I’d mute it every time it came on! I’ve heard good things about Zooey’s ‘She & Him’ albums, but now I can’t bring myself to listen to one.

That said, this editorial reminds me more of the ‘quirky’ Katy Perry than the ‘quirky’ Zooey Deschanel.
Warmheartedgirl Seattle

I don’t particularly like her acting, but I do love these pix. She is a very beautiful young lady. I much prefer Emily, though – who is thoroughly beautiful and sexy as all getout. What beautiful genes those two have!
Anonymous

I hate her and every role she’s ever been in. Ooooh, I’m so *~quirky~* I have 0 social skills despite dressing like a fashionista. Also, I’m not like those other girls, no way. I’m *~unique~*

fucking balls. being awkward IRL isn’t cute or fun, nor does it get you boys.
http://profiles.google.com/shannonlstewart Shannon Stewart

I like her. She has a certain charm. I’d kinda like to see her in something that wasn’t so her, though — it’s hard to tell if someone can act when every role they are basically playing themselves.
http://twitter.com/karenrubyleo Karen

I’m with you, i think she’s cute and love her look but I just don’t get all the hype about her. I find it hard to believe that she is really that ‘quirky’ or different.
Anonymous

In the past I found her cute, pretty and interesting. But now that I’m getting the hard-sell that she is CUTE, PRETTY, and INTERESTING she is starting to irritate me.
Anonymous

She looks like she’s farting a torpedo in the Dolce a& Gabbana bodysuit. And sorry. I just haaaaate her. Nails on a chalkboard for me. The cover shot is okay and it’s kind of cute that her mouth looks like a raspberry, but I’m saying no to the other two. She is no Ann Marie. She is so Suzanne Pleshette. She is no whoever they are trying to make her today.
Anonymous

She’s cute and all, but I agree about her acting/comedic chops. The New Girl is irritating, though she’s OK in it, and she’s been lackluster to terrible in everything else I’ve seen her in.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3IC6DQJTCNEHKP3T73MGZNELRU Christine
  
  She was absolutely fan-freakin-tastic in The Good Girl with Jennifer Anniston. But yeah, pretty much no one but me bothered to watch that.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Charlotte-Sanders/100000745060624 Charlotte Sanders
    
    I saw it, I own it, I love it many times over!!! the best work Anniston has ever done… I love anything Mike White does, he’s tops and Deschanel was excellent and hilarious in that movie, which I have watched a million times by now.
Anonymous

Oh my gosh, those first shoes. And that first quote. Wins for me.
Cheri Lee

I love her show especially Schmidt.
Anonymous

I’ve always assumed her appeal was mostly to straight, dorky guys, who, let’s face it, are a loud and persistent voice on the internet. She’s basically a Manic Pixie Dream Girl who looks like Katy Perry and sounds like Scarlett Johansson, but comes off as the kind of girl you could maybe, sort of, on a good day, walk up to in a cafe without instantly dying from the kind of withering glare you’d get from a Jolie or a Theron.

….Aaaaand I’m clearly spending too much time on the A.V. Club. Anyway, that cover photo is annoying as all get out, but the photos inside are adorable and chic. Very Irma La Douce.
Anonymous

She looks adorable here. Totally digging it.

I don’t love or dislike her but that cotton commercial was horrendous. But then I don’t care for her singing anyway. At all. Do I think she’s overrated? Sure. Is her current show awful? A thousand times, yes. I have seen her in a couple of movies and thought she was pretty good. Granted, they were quirky, off kilter, happy characters so I’m not sure she had to do much acting. I do think she’s cute as hell and I don’t mind the quirky, hipster thing TOO much, though a steady diet of it would be very tiring.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3IC6DQJTCNEHKP3T73MGZNELRU Christine
  
  Just have to say that her cotton commercial is about a zillion times better than Kate Bosworth’s!!! OMG that one drives me up the wall ever single time it comes on. Worst. Singing. Ever.
Anonymous

I read a comment somewhere recently that described her as always looking like she just pooped a smurf. Now every time I see her that is what I think. My inner 12 year old can’t help it.
http://twitter.com/ShelfAfterlife Shelf Afterlife

I love her. I think she’s great and I love her voice. She’s funny and cute and charming and while I don’t always like everything she wears I think she looks great here!
Anonymous

oh so you wanna generate comments. ill give you one. even though, 4 pages in, i doubt anybodys gonna read it.

anyway, while i dont have anything against deschanel, i just keep thinking that there are much more talented actresses out there who are doing the same ‘adorable’ thing. mainly lizzy caplan and alison brie.
Anonymous

I think she is fantastic. I’d watch her in anything including an annoying commercial. I think she (her New Girl character) passes for what is wholesome today. She’s beautiful, but doesn’t understand or use her beauty to manipulate men (or women) and acts as if she’s unaware or unsure of many things except other’s needs. She appeals in that she’s approachable, has a value system, isn’t a slut (that’s so tiresome in actors today), but most of us know we’d never have a friend or a partner as gorgeous or dorky cool in real life so she’s unobtainable as well. If you’re as seasoned (old) as I am or watch old tv shows frequently, you might understand how I immediately thought of Zooey as the new “That Girl” (Marlo Thomas). Unconventional living arrangement (for the time), bright and enthusiastic, moral. I think that “New Girl” is even a reference. I see that some don’t agree here, but I’m in the Love Camp.
Anonymous

It’s funny that Kate Hudson was featured yesterday and yet ZD is the one who really gives off the old-fashioned “Laugh In” Goldie Hawn vibe. I haven’t watched her show and don’t plan to but she’s certainly cute and that combo of big eyes, expressive mouth, and 60s long bob also brings to mind Marlo Thomas. At least she doesn’t appear to be dripping with self-regard and super seriousness. And I agree that she was great in Elf.
http://www.facebook.com/sorana.tarmu Sorana Tarmu

Her show is boring, that’s true, but she is a good actress. She stood out in Almost Famous and I love her ever since.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1166704980 Deb Wood

Her character makes me want to throw things at the television.
Anonymous

Love her. Love the new show.
vmcdanie

I go back and forth on her. Sometimes she’s cute, sometimes she’s unbearable. Same with her show which alternately charms the pants off or annoys the hell out of me. I do love the ensemble cast (missing Damon Wayons Jr. though) and something always makes me laugh when I watch it.

She looks cute here although I suspect some chicanery with Photoshop and her eyes on the last pic. She has stunning blue eyes. There is no need to tint them an unnatural hue.
Anonymous

She’s totally chaneling Jo Anne Worley, no? Especially in that last pic.
akprincess72

Amy Farrah Fowler could kick her ass…
Anonymous

I think this is the most I’ve ever liked her. I don’t care for her work very much, but she seems like a pretty cool person.
Anonymous

who is this? i never saw her in any movie or tv show, but saw her name here and there.
Anonymous

I don’t really feel anything otwards her, positive or negative. But any woman who can pose squatting without cellulite and still looks like she eats enough has good genes indeed.

That last picture is hella cute. Does she do any broadway? I can totally see her as a plucky Adelaide in Guys and Dolls. Or any number of other roles.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=713709401 Randy Noak

I don’t mind the fact that she’s quirky, I don’t like the fact that she tries so hard to be. And will never let you forget it. Truly quirky people don’t have to advertise. They just are.
Anonymous

I will go one step further and confess that I hated 500 Days of Summer.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Charlotte-Sanders/100000745060624 Charlotte Sanders
  
  How?? How could you possibly hate that movie??? How? Well, I will admit that it is Joseph Gordan-Levitt who makes the movie, not her. He tears your heart out in that role. She is cute in it, tho.
Anonymous

She is a cross between Teri Garr and Marlo Thomas in these photographs.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PVIY3NBCZJAJNFWDBCWG2DMKL4 Jen R

I don’t know anything about her singing except for the cotton commercial and the singing she does in the latest Winnie The Pooh movie but I hate what I’ve heard. As for the acting, the first time I ever saw her was in the mini-series that was a modern Wizard of Oz where she played the Dorothy character. If I had to judge her acting ability based on that alone, I’d have to say her only talent is standing in front of others with a ridiculous wide-eyed look on her face. Seriously, she showed about as much range of emotion as a pancake – completely flat. My 5 year-old can act better than her.
Susan Crawford

Until I saw her act, I thought, “Oh, goody! At last someone who can be Marlo Thomas for this generation.” Because every generation needs That Girl. But kittens, Zooey ain’t it. She is adorable, wears clothes well, photographs like a dream, but like T and Lo, I just don’t see the appeal.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720742723 Sarah Winningham

My point being, that all three of these women are clearly very intelligent, whatever their style of dress.
frankystein123

Her entire demeanour is just annoying. And the new show (New Girl) she is starring in? I watch for the sexual tension between Cece and Schmidt.

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Zooey Deschanel for Allure Magazine

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